![](/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/region-caucasus_01.jpg)
Latest Articles about The Caucasus
![](/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Iran-Caspian-coast-640x346.jpg)
Iran Balks at Definition of Offshore Territorial Baselines in Caspian Sea
Following decades of wrangling and negotiations, Iran, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Russia and Turkmenistan signed the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea, in Aktau, on August 12, 2018. According to the domestic laws of the five littoral states of the Caspian Sea, the text... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Russia-Iran-foreign-ministers-640x403.jpg)
Moscow and Tehran Dramatically Expanding Economic and Security Cooperation
Among the most important developments since the end of last year’s fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan has been the dramatic expansion in consultations and cooperation between Russia and Iran. This development reflects their common opposition to border changes, shared concern about the expansion of Turkish... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Fizuli-airport-construction-640x427.jpg)
Karabakh: An Emerging Regional Transport Hub
In late April 2021, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev laid the foundation for building an international airport in Zangilan District, as part of the national restoration process for Karabakh and the surrounding de-occupied regions (Abc.az, April 27). Speaking at the ceremony, Aliyev mentioned that the geographical... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Volga-Don-Canal-640x480.jpg)
Moscow Promoting Canal System Linking Turkey and Central Asia Via Russian Territory
In the 1930s, Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin considered building a canal between the Black and Caspian seas because the Volga–Don Canal lacked the depth to handle large-capacity ships. But World War II forced him to suspend and then abandon that dream. Now, President Vladimir Putin... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Turkey-COVID-19-vaccinations-640x360.jpg)
Leader-Oriented Relations Between Russia and Turkey in Times of Pandemic
At the end of April, Minister Fahrettin Koca announced that the Ministry of Health had granted emergency use authorization in Turkey to Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine (Anadolu Agency, April 30). Sputnik V became the third vaccine to receive such approval, after China’s Sinovac and the Pfizer-BioNTech... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Armenia-Azerbaijan-640x360.jpg)
Fate of Zangezur Corridor Unclear Amidst Precarious Tensions Between Armenia and Azerbaijan
On May 17, Armenia’s caretaker prime minister, Nikol Pashinian, convened a Security Council meeting to discuss the latest tense developments on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border (see EDM, May 18; see below). In addressing the participants, he rejected rumors about the so-called Zangezur corridor (which would stretch... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Anaklia-port.jpg)
The ‘Big Game’ Around Georgia’s Deep-Water Ports
Last March, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili announced that his government would post a new tender for the construction of the Anaklia deep-water port (Report.ge March 31; Netgazeti, March 4). This mega-project, originally envisioned by former president Mikhail Saakashvili (in power 2004–2012), is the most... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Armenia-Azerbaijan-standoff-640x426.jpg)
Karabakh Conflict Takes a Dangerous Turn
In mid-May 2021, the Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan began to take on a dangerous new dimension. In contrast to the last 25 years—when fighting between the two countries mainly took place on territory internationally recognized as Azerbaijan’s (with a notable exception last summer—see... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Ramzan-Kadyrov-and-Magomed-Daudov-EDM-May-5-2021-640x601.jpg)
Chechen Officials and Ingush Activists Agree to Meet to Discuss Border Issues
Chechen officials and Ingush activists reached an agreement to hold negotiations on the contentious administrative border between Chechnya and Ingushetia. On April 25, the Ingush Mehk-Khel movement (a.k.a. Council of Elders of Ingushetia) publicly appealed to the speaker of the Chechen Parliament, Magomed Daudov, via... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/eeu-640x360.jpg)
Azerbaijan Feels Pressure to Join Moscow-Dominated Eurasian Economic Union
The next meeting of the Intergovernmental Council of the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) will be held in the central Russian city of Kazan, on April 29–30 (TASS, March 17). A key agenda item for the EEU member states may reportedly be to discuss the... MORE